Keeping the genie in the bottle

Cleanup of the LCP Superfund site is to begin Sept. 24

CAROLE HAWKINS

BRUNSWICK - A plume of contaminated brine suspended in groundwater under the LCP Chemical Superfund site has not reached drinking supplies 600 feet beneath it, say officials. But unless it is removed, one day it will, they said.

About 1 million gallons of caustic brine is floating about 70 feet beneath the ground's surface, said Shea Jones, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's remedial project manager for the site.

The brine is contaminated with mercury, arsenic and chromium, which can cause brain and kidney damage.

Honeywell International Inc., the company that owns the site, is leading the cleanup, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 24, said Honeywell spokeswoman Vicki Streitfeld. Over the next six months, Honeywell will conduct tests to decide if on-site or off-site treatment of the water pumped out would be most effective, she said.

The project should be completed within three years and is part of the final cleanup of water, marsh, soil and groundwater pollution dumped by LCP Chemical more than a decade ago.

Daniel Parshley, project manager of the grass-roots Glynn Environmental Coalition, says it is important to resolve the groundwater issue soon.

"It's like letting the genie out of the bottle," he said. "Once mercury and caustic brine get into drinking aquifers, it's difficult to get it out without spending a lot more money."

Before closing in 1994, the LCP Chemical plant produced chlorine and caustic soda, two chemicals widely used in industry.

During that time chlorine, mercury and other pollutants were illegally discharged into nearby streams. Spilled mercury and caustic soda also leaked from LCP's decrepit production buildings, into the ground beneath them and eventually formed the caustic brine pool.

The plant closed in 1994 after the state Environmental Protection Division revoked the plant's operating permits and six LCP officials were eventually convicted of violating federal environmental laws.

In the mid 1990s, three previous owners, Honeywell (formerly Allied Signal), Atlantic Richfield and Georgia Power Co. removed more than 250,000 tons of waste, dug out 25,000 tons of contaminated marsh flats and restored 2,650 linear feet of tidal channels at the site.

"We think we did a good job of removing the [pollution] source, but residents should still pay close attention to the fishing advisories," Jones said.

The EPA is still working on a final cleanup plan for remaining pollution in soils and marshes, she said.

It was first thought that the mercury-contaminated caustic plume would remain contained in the surrounding groundwater. But in 2002 tests showed the solution had dissolved sandstone underneath and was entering an aquifer immediately below it.

There are still about eight layers of stone and shallow aquifers between the plume and the Floridan aquifer from which Brunswick and Glynn County withdraw drinking water.

Honeywell will continue pumping out the caustic brine until tests show the alkalinity of the water has been reduced to the point that heavy metals would separate from the water.

"They will leave the water, so they won't pose a threat anymore," Jones said of those potentially dangerous metals.